Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds

A Sourcebook

Daniel Ogden

An Instructor Guide containing chapter summaries, discussion questions to lead your class, and supplemental assignments is now available to download in the Instructors Resource Center

Three hundred texts in new translations, along with brief but explicit commentaries

Includes a new preface, an updated bibliography, and new source-passages

Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds

A Sourcebook

Second Edition

Daniel Ogden

Description

In a culture where the supernatural possessed an immediacy now strange to us, magic was of great importance both in the literary and mythic tradition and in ritual practice. Recently, ancient magic has hit a high in popularity, both as an area of scholarly inquiry and as one of general, popular interest. In Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds Daniel Ogden presents three hundred texts in new translations, along with brief but explicit commentaries. This is the first book in the field to unite extensive selections from both literary and documentary sources. Alongside descriptions of sorcerers, witches, and ghosts in the works of ancient writers, it reproduces curse tablets, spells from ancient magical recipe books, and inscriptions from magical amulets. Each translation is followed by a commentary that puts it in context within ancient culture and connects the passage to related passages in this volume. Authors include the well known (Sophocles, Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Pliny) and the less familiar, and extend across the whole of Greco-Roman antiquity.

The second edition includes a new preface, an updated bibliography, and new source-passages, such as the earliest use of the word "mage" in Greek" (fr. Aeschylus' Persians ), a werewolf tale (Aesop's Fables), and excerpts from the most systematic account of ancient legislation against magic (Theodosian Code).

Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds

A Sourcebook

Daniel Ogden

Author Information

Daniel Ogden is Professor of Ancient History, University of Exeter. He is the author of Greek Bastardy in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods.

Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds

A Sourcebook

Second Edition

Daniel Ogden

Reviews and Awards

"This is a marvelous book, in every sense of the word. For one thing, it is full of marvels--marvelous stories of ghostly and magical happenings.... a reference source that everyone researching this field will be delighted to possess."--Journal of Scientific Exploration